DIY Project: Make Your Own Halogen to LED Conversion

There are many LED conversions out there for halogen lamps. This means that people are converting their halogen lamps to LED lamps by tinkering around with the bulbs and making their own. We've always liked LED lighting and we thought that it's a great idea to get some more use out of old halogen lamps instead of throwing them out. LEDs burn much brighter and generate almost no heat.

We've already shown you how to replace halogen bulbs with LEDs. However, that build was quite complex because it showed how to create a multi-LED bulb replacement. This is a simpler version and uses a less soldering and less LEDs, making the whole process quite easier. Jmengel put together this guide over at Instructables. It details an easy process to retrofit low-voltage halogen fixtures to high-power LED bubls that will use less power and last longer (about 50,000 hours). It will have the same light output as the original light. This is best used for accent lights, focused task lights, or lights for display cases and so forth.

The first step involves drilling holes into the heatsink so that the Philips Rebek 3-LED star board can fit on it. The board comes ready made with the three LEDs. so no soldering is required at this step. Then, the LED driver will be hot-glued into a scrap of wood, that will be placed underneath the heatsink. The wood is there to hold the driver in place. Next, solder the wires from the driver to the star board. You can then attach the LED to the heatsink. Once that's done, all that is left is to mount the driver. Fit it all together, add a screw to hold the wedge in place, just to make sure, and you're done.

This is an easy way of converting halogen lamps to LEDs. It doesn't involve much soldering or fabricating since the LEDs are already together on the same board. Read the full details with step-by-step instructions at Instructables. [via Instructables, images by Jmengel]